16 Incredible Church Management Software Solutions that Save Time and Money

Artie Shlykov28 February 20190 comments

From events to weekly services, you're doing a lot of good for your communities.

So, why should your church spend extra hours on administrative tasks when thousands of other churches use software to automate these tasks and save money?

Here’s how your church can do the same.

What is Church Management Software?

Church Management software is an all-in-one management tool to help you eliminate and streamline administrative tasks from your workload to save you time and money. It’s usually comprised of a website builder, online contact database, communications system, booking system, finance & payment system, event platform, and other features that will help you manage your church more effectively.

Most church management software solutions include functionalities like:

Instantly processing online donations, payments and fees.

Creating an easy-to-update website with an event calendar and online resources.

Allowing church members to sign up for events online.

Improving member communication through automated invoices, emails, and newsletters.

Maintaining a full contact database that's easy to search, filter, and update.

Financial reports, analytics, and membership summaries.

These are all basic functionalities of a larger grouping of software called membership management software — a solution designed to eliminate and automate as many of the administrative tasks of membership organizations as possible

Try the #1 Membership Management Software for Free!

Wild Apricot is the #1 rated membership management software used by over 100 churches across the United States and Canada. You can try a free, 30-day trial of Wild Apricot and have your church set up with a professional-looking website and easy-to-search member database in just an afternoon.

3 Examples of Churches Using Wild Apricot

Here are three churches currently using Wild Apricot to build their website, plan events, receive donations, and manage their members:

15 Other Church Management Software Options

Wild Apricot is just one of many church management software platforms that are available for your church.

But how do you decide which one best fits your church?

Here are some things to consider when comparing software:

Are there setup fees? Support fees? Additional transaction fees?

Is the system easy-to-learn?

How fast do you need the software set up?

What specialized features will you need?

Is the system secure?

To help you make the right choice, we’ve listed some of the most prominent church management software solutions in alphabetical order with pricing (in USD) as well as other feature information so you can decide which one is right for you.

Realm puts your most important ministry responsibilities such as administration, accounting, and community tasks all under one roof. It's one place where everyone can sign in making sure staff can stay informed, connected, and focused on multiplying your ministry. Weather it’s member management, donation/payment processing, event planning or reporting, Realm does it all. Although some features require one-time costs, users save money in the long run by not needing to pay for said features in their monthly bill.

Pricing: There are 3 pricing tiers structured by who is using the software. Starting at $30 for staff only, $46 for all church members, and $209 for multi-site churches. Each tier can also incur one-time costs for extra features if desired.

For churches looking to automate their tasks alone, Breeze is a fantastic choice. Although they don’t have a website builder, every administrative task can be automated with a ‘breeze’. From donations, to event planning, emailing, and contact management, Breeze can handle it all without extra costs! For small to mid-sized churches, Breeze is a great, simple and inexpensive solution to all administrative needs with minimal setup time.

Weather you’re a small local church with under 100 members, or a well-established one with over 8,000 regular attendees, Roll Call has you covered. Not only does Roll Call help capture contact information, but also qualify it with engagement scores, and quick communication capabilities. Also allows for mobile check-in to track attendance and payment processing. Large features can be purchased for a fixed price, while smaller features are available based on church members and administrators with monthly pricing.

Pricing: Pricing tiers from $149/month, to $3,253/month vary based on church members and administrators. You can also add on features like mobile check-in and reporting for a one-time cost of $399/feature.

As one of the few cloud-supported church softwares, Shield by CCSI is ideal for churches frequently traveling with their members and on a budget. They offer all the standard member features offline such as reporting and member preference management at a very low cost (since there aren’t many more features). Their price certainly reflects functionality, but many small churches aren’t looking for an all-inclusive solution. For those needing a simple, portable database and member manager, Shield is a great solution.

Pricing: Pricing tiers from $14.99/month, to $54.99/month vary based on church members and administrators.

For churches that like to get every feature they can, CDM plus offers just that. Through their system, users have access to data about members, contributions, accounting/payroll, event registration, and check-in/check-out, plus easy to use tools for online donations, event registrations member directories and mass communications. With all these features, pricing starts fairly low. However, the company will not publicly release their pricing structure, so you’re likely to pay a lot more than the starting cost.

Pricing: Starts at $35/month, contact them for more info (won’t display it).

From mega-churches, to small church communities, CCB supports all church sizes. They have a variety of crucial features including check-in, contribution management and online giving, forms, volunteer management, guest follow-up, metrics dashboards, mobile apps, and much more. Their staff also does software implementation coaching to help churches transition to the software, along with highly rated product support.

Pricing: Pricing tiers from $90/month, to $350/month vary based on church members and software features.

Church Windows is a flexible, user-friendly software produced by a well-established industry leader. All basic features like payment processing and event planning are present, while modules like member management are exceptionally detailed allowing users to give great depths of personal information. You can pay a lower cost for a smaller number of features, and add on more modules once you’re ready. You can also choose between purchasing a desktop version of the software, or online hosting for live updates.

Pricing: Pricing tiers from $63/month, to $129/month vary based on software features. There is also an initial licensing fee of $250 on all tiers. You can add on advanced features like financial reporting for different one-time costs.

Let's face it, most churches have strict budgets. For those looking to spend the least amount and get the most for it, ChurchTrac is a great fit. With features like contribution tracking, online giving, child check-in, attendance tracking, budgeting and accounting and congregation access, it’s hard to picture the starting price at $5/month. Despite low prices, their customer support receives lots of great reviews, but their interface is often described as outdated.

Pricing: Pricing tiers from $5/month, to $40/month (expanded custom plans available) vary based on number of members. You can also add on financial features like reporting, budgeting and payroll for $5/month extra.

Fellowship One is an all-inclusive church management solution covering every possible administrative need churches might have. From mobile check-in to website payment processing, the software can handle everything. They focus on custom solutions for each church rather than selling customers specified packages, so a call with one of their representatives is best to determine their cost. Keep in mind you’ve got many features to choose from, so price can climb quickly.

Pricing: Starts at $179/month, without any specified price ceiling. Must contact them for accurate price estimates.

ParishSOFT is a platform of different softwares all helping with church administration, specifically Catholic parishes and dioceses. Customers can choose from a selection of products rather than paying for individual features, and can combine each product if needed. ParishSoft covers all basic features in their series of tutorial videos, making the onboarding process as quick as possible. If you’re looking for a custom solution with great support from the company for troubleshooting and setup, ParishSoft is a great solution.

PowerChurch is one of the oldest softwares in the game, servicing churches since 1984. The software might look dated, but don’t let it fool you. There are a variety of functions available such as member management, event planning and accounting without any extra fees for users. With many softwares, you’re stuck with a specific payment plan and add more features, which are often too expensive. PowerChurch prices are extremely transparent and give you exactly what you pay for. However, there are several major downsides worth mentioning such as PC exclusivity (can’t run on IOS), and rare system updates.

Pricing: Download entire software for a one-time payment of $395, or rent it online for $39.95/month (internet connection mandatory for use)

ServantKeeper is a large-platform software capable of handling mid-sized to large churches. There are many features to take advantage of such as attendance, contributions, groups, pledging, donor statements, mass email/text, secure child check-in/out, mail merging and robust custom reporting. You can select out of 4 pricing plans so you don’t pay much extra for unused modules, and choose between downloading the software or internet access. Overall, ServantKeeper is a great solution for churches with more than 200 regular attendees as smaller churches will likely not us more advanced features still included in monthly costs.

Pricing: Pricing tiers from $9.99/month, to $99/month vary based on software features. There is also a one-time initial licensing fee between $299 and $599 for new churches.

ShelbyNext is a fully-integrated ecosystem of cloud-based software solutions for memberships, financial reporting, website management, and even includes a mobile application. This solution is for large churches with over 200 active members since the solution is very broad, covering the needs of larger groups. Functionality wise, ShelbyNext has no match. They software contains every feature churches can ever dream of, although it might come at a high cost since they don’t publicly state their pricing criteria.

Pricing: Starts at $179/month without any specified price ceiling. Must contact them for accurate price estimates.

It’s rare to see a church software giving out free accounts, but Tithe.ly allows churches requiring very minimal tools to use the software free of charge. The upgrading pricing tiers encompass a large number of features from mobile donations to website management. One of their biggest selling factors is their front user facing app allowing churches to develop their own application for members to use instead of logging into a website portal. Fantastic solution for large scale churches, as well as small churches looking to test church management software for the first time.

Pricing: Pricing tiers from $50/month, to $99/month vary based on software features. There is also an initial setup fee of $149 on all tiers. You can also add on text-to-give for $19/month.

UCare is another fantastic solution for churches seeking every possible feature. Their software includes features for membership management, attendance, small groups, reporting, finances, payment processing, event management, digital ticketing, mobile check in, children's check in, forms and integrates with MailChimp and Planning Centre. All features are available via their website, or their application for phones and tablets, making them one of the most accessible softwares on this list. Of course, the cost is marginally higher than the majority of other solutions, but seamless integration of many large features certainly makes up the value.

Pricing: Pricing tiers from $10/month, to $199/month vary based on number of members

By now you’ve surely found the software best suited to your church, and became an expert in the field. We hope this article provided you with some guidance, just as you have to your members. If there is anything you feel we forgot, please email me at artie [at] wildapricot [.com]